The case is immensely complicated

The case, which will be in front of a jury, should be finished by the beginning of 2005 - over four years after the fatal crash.

The venue should be able to cater for a 30-plus legal team, the defendants, numerous witnesses, the families and a massive media presence, prosecution barrister Richard Lissack QC said.

There is a huge volume of evidence already prepared for the trial, with 132 lever arch files full of evidence so far and the prosecution's summary of the case running to 223 pages.

Mr Lissack said most of those appearing would be from the east of the country and suggested a court in London, or perhaps Reading or Winchester might be suitable.

Representatives of Network Rail, the successor to Railtrack, the maintenance contractor, Balfour Beatty, and the six senior managers charged appeared at the hearing at St Albans Crown Court.

Crash victims Steve Arthur, 46, from Pease Pottage, West Sussex Peter Monkhouse, 50, of Headingley, Leeds Leslie Gray, 43, of Tuxford, Nottingham Robert James Alcorn, 37, of Auckland, New Zealand

If found guilty, the individuals could face life imprisonment and the two companies could be ordered to pay unlimited fines.

Four people died and dozens more were injured in the October 2000 crash, caused by a broken rail, when a high speed GNER East Coast train derailed just south of Hatfield station in Hertfordshire.

A further six men face charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act only, including the former boss of Railtrack, Gerald Corbett, who is now chairman of Woolworth's.

Both the companies and their employees have said they would defend themselves against the charges.

The 12 men facing charges and representatives of the two companies have been given unconditional bail and the case adjourned to an unspecified date in September.

Judge Michael Findlay Baker QC said: "I required the attendance of the defendants today and that is because this is the first and formal appearance in crown court in a matter of great gravity in which there are concerns over public culpability."

Lawyers for both prosecution and defence have asked for the addresses of defendants to be withheld to avoid the possibility of abusive phone calls or letters being received by the families of those accused.

In the two-and-a-half years since the crash, 1,500 witnesses have given evidence.

Police have taken possession of more than one million pages of documents.

The accident led to a network-wide inspection of tracks and speed restrictions on trains while work took place.

Manslaughter charges

The six men charged with four offences of manslaughter and one health and safety offence, with their job titles at the time of the crash, are: